GeForce GT 540M vs 9800M GTS

Place in performance ranking	1062	1001
Place by popularity	not in top-100	not in top-100
Cost-effectiveness evaluation	0.04	0.05
Architecture	G9x (2007−2010)	Fermi (2010−2014)
GPU code name	NB9E-GT	N12P-GS
Market segment	Laptop	Laptop
Release date	15 July 2008 (15 years ago)	6 January 2011 (13 years ago)
Current price	$230	$283

Cost-effectiveness evaluation

Performance to price ratio. The higher, the better.

GT 540M has 25% better value for money than 9800M GTS.

Detailed specifications

General performance parameters such as number of shaders, GPU core base clock and boost clock speeds, manufacturing process, texturing and calculation speed. These parameters indirectly speak of performance, but for precise assessment you have to consider their benchmark and gaming test results. Note that power consumption of some graphics cards can well exceed their nominal TDP, especially when overclocked.

Pipelines / CUDA cores	64	96
CUDA cores	64	96
Core clock speed	600 MHz	672 MHz
Number of transistors	505 million	585 million
Manufacturing process technology	65 nm	40 nm
Power consumption (TDP)	75 Watt	35 Watt
Texture fill rate	19.20	10.8 billion/sec
Floating-point performance	192 gflops	258.05 gflops
Gigaflops	240	no data

Form factor & compatibility

Information on GeForce 9800M GTS and GeForce GT 540M compatibility with other computer components. Useful when choosing a future computer configuration or upgrading an existing one. For notebook video cards it's notebook size, connection slot and bus, if the video card is inserted into a slot instead of being soldered to the notebook motherboard.

Laptop size	large	large
Interface	PCIe 2.0 x16	MXM-A (3.0)
Supplementary power connectors	None	no data

VRAM capacity and type

Parameters of VRAM installed: its type, size, bus, clock and resulting bandwidth. Integrated GPUs have no dedicated video RAM and use a shared part of system RAM.

Memory type	GDDR3	DDR3
Maximum RAM amount	1 GB	2 GB
Memory bus width	256 Bit	128 Bit
Memory clock speed	800 MHz	900 MHz
Memory bandwidth	51.2 GB/s	28.8 GB/s
Shared memory	-	-

Connectivity and outputs

Types and number of video connectors present on the reviewed GPUs. As a rule, data in this section is precise only for desktop reference ones (so-called Founders Edition for NVIDIA chips). OEM manufacturers may change the number and type of output ports, while for notebook cards availability of certain video outputs ports depends on the laptop model rather than on the card itself.

Display Connectors

No outputs

Supported technologies

Supported technological solutions. This information will prove useful if you need some particular technology for your purposes.

3D Blu-Ray	no data	+
3D Gaming	no data	+
Optimus	no data	+

API compatibility

List of supported graphics and general-purpose computing APIs, including their specific versions.

DirectX	11.1 (10_0)	12 API
Shader Model	4.0	5.1
OpenGL	3.3	4.5
OpenCL	1.1	1.1
Vulkan	N/A	N/A
CUDA	+	+

Synthetic benchmark performance

Non-gaming benchmark performance comparison. The combined score is measured on a 0-100 point scale.

Combined synthetic benchmark score

This is our combined benchmark performance score. We are regularly improving our combining algorithms, but if you find some perceived inconsistencies, feel free to speak up in comments section, we usually fix problems quickly.

9800M GTS 1.04

GT 540M 1.24
+19.2%

GT 540M outperforms 9800M GTS by 19% based on our aggregated benchmark results.

Passmark

This is the most ubiquitous GPU benchmark, part of Passmark PerformanceTest suite. It gives the graphics card a thorough evaluation under various types of load, providing four separate benchmarks for Direct3D versions 9, 10, 11 and 12 (the last being done in 4K resolution if possible), and few more tests engaging DirectCompute capabilities.

Benchmark coverage: 25%

9800M GTS 401

GT 540M 479
+19.5%

GT 540M outperforms 9800M GTS by 19% in Passmark.

3DMark Vantage Performance

3DMark Vantage is an outdated DirectX 10 benchmark using 1280x1024 screen resolution. It taxes the graphics card with two scenes, one depicting a girl escaping some militarized base located within a sea cave, the other displaying a space fleet attack on a defenseless planet. It was discontinued in April 2017, and Time Spy benchmark is now recommended to be used instead.

Benchmark coverage: 17%

9800M GTS 4060

GT 540M 4355
+7.3%

GT 540M outperforms 9800M GTS by 7% in 3DMark Vantage Performance.

Gaming performance

Let's see how good the compared graphics cards are for gaming. Particular gaming benchmark results are measured in FPS.

Average FPS across all PC games

Here are the average frames per second in a large set of popular games across different resolutions:

900p	12−14 −33.3%	16 +33.3%
Full HD	16−18 −25%	20 +25%

FPS performance in popular games

Full HD
Low Preset

Cyberpunk 2077

3−4

−33.3%

4−5
+33.3%

Full HD
Medium Preset

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	9−10 +0%	9−10 +0%
Cyberpunk 2077	3−4 −33.3%	4−5 +33.3%
Hitman 3	1−2 +0%	1−2 +0%
Horizon Zero Dawn	0−1	1−2
Red Dead Redemption 2	3−4 +0%	3−4 +0%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider	7−8 +0%	7−8 +0%

Full HD
High Preset

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	9−10 +0%	9−10 +0%
Cyberpunk 2077	3−4 −33.3%	4−5 +33.3%
Hitman 3	1−2 +0%	1−2 +0%
Horizon Zero Dawn	0−1	1−2
Metro Exodus	1−2 −100%	2−3 +100%
Red Dead Redemption 2	3−4 +0%	3−4 +0%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider	7−8 +0%	7−8 +0%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	4−5 +0%	4−5 +0%

Full HD
Ultra Preset

Cyberpunk 2077	3−4 −33.3%	4−5 +33.3%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	4−5 +0%	4−5 +0%

1440p
High Preset

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	3−4 +0%	3−4 +0%
Hitman 3	3−4 −33.3%	4−5 +33.3%
Horizon Zero Dawn	8−9 +0%	8−9 +0%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider	5−6 +0%	5−6 +0%

1440p
Ultra Preset

Cyberpunk 2077	1−2 +0%	1−2 +0%
Far Cry 5	2−3 +0%	2−3 +0%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	1−2 −100%	2−3 +100%

4K
High Preset

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	1−2 +0%	1−2 +0%
Hitman 3	1−2 +0%	1−2 +0%
Horizon Zero Dawn	7−8 +0%	7−8 +0%
Red Dead Redemption 2	0−1	0−1

4K
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	0−1	0−1
Far Cry 5	3−4 +0%	3−4 +0%
Far Cry New Dawn	5−6 +0%	5−6 +0%

This is how 9800M GTS and GT 540M compete in popular games:

GT 540M is 33.3% faster than 9800M GTS in 900p
GT 540M is 25% faster than 9800M GTS in 1080p

Here's the range of performance differences observed across popular games:

in Metro Exodus, with 1080p resolution and the High Preset, the GT 540M is 100% faster than the 9800M GTS.

All in all, in popular games:

GT 540M is ahead in 7 tests (26%)
there's a draw in 20 tests (74%)

Pros & cons summary

Performance score	1.04	1.24
Recency	15 July 2008	6 January 2011
Maximum RAM amount	1 GB	2 GB
Chip lithography	65 nm	40 nm
Power consumption (TDP)	75 Watt	35 Watt